This application relates generally to bolted joints and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus for coupling high pressure bolted joints.
Within known power generation systems, leakage from a high pressure region through a bolted joint to a region of lower pressure may adversely affect the performance of the system. For example, the steam flow path in a steam turbine engine and the gas flow path in a gas flow turbine engine may be at a much higher pressure than a pressure of the surrounding ambient flow. Leakage of the steam and gas from the respective turbine engine to areas of lower pressure may be detrimental to the performance of either turbine engine.
To facilitate reducing leakage from high pressure regions to regions of lower pressure, flanges used with bolted connections are machined until the mating face of each flange is substantially smooth and flat. Moreover, each bolt used with such connections is then torqued such that the bolting force induced to each flange is substantially constant across the mating surface. However, because of the size and complexity of the components being coupled together, machining the flanges to the finish required to prevent leakage may be a difficult and time-consuming task. Moreover, depending on the application, fluids within areas of high pressure may still leak through such connections.